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Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

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Friday, April 3, 2009

Crawfish Velveeta Fettuccine

Here's another delicious recipe that is a popular dish down south along the Coast and appropriate for Fridays during Lent. If you aren't a fan of crawfish, shrimp is an excellent substitute here.

Here comes the soapbox folks - y'all know I gotta do it! Whenever possible, try to purchase Certified Cajun Louisiana bred crawfish or Wild American shrimp. It's miles better than the imported stuff and there really is a huge taste difference. During crawfish season here along the Gulf Coast, there are dozens of places you can pick up 5 to 10 pound bags of freshly boiled, good and spicy crawfish, and those are the absolute best for any crawfish dish. There is simply no comparison to the frozen variety even for Certified Cajun. But, I also know that many of you don't have that kind of access to fresh seafood, and frankly, it's lots more convenient to buy crawfish tails already cleaned and ready. Even we do that more often down here, because honestly, you have to peel a LOT of crawfish to get a pound of tails!

Superstores in this country are notorious for carrying mostly all foreign sources of fish, shrimp and crawfish - and in truth, most folks don't even realize that they are eating imported seafood. Flip your frozen tilapia package over, look at the very bottom of the back of the package and it will tell you the country of origin. Look closely at the labels, and ask for Wild American Shrimp and frozen Louisiana crawfish tails at your grocery store. It may cost a bit more but you'll be supporting our country, and with the cheaper foreign product, quality, and taste really do suffer. If enough people stop buying the foreign stuff, the prices for fresher American seafood will come down! {tucking away the soapbox again}

Okay... on to the recipe! Cook the fettuccine according to the package direction for al dente. Drain, rinse well and set aside to fully drain. Chop up the trinity.

Melt the 1/2 stick of butter.

Toss in the onion, celery and bell pepper.

And cook until softened.

Stir in 3 tablespoons of flour and cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook another couple minutes.

Add in a small palmful of dried parsley and Cajun seasoning, if using.

And the crawfish.

Stir together well and simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Add 3/4 cup of half and half...

... and the cubed Velveeta ...

... cooking over low until cheese has melted.

Add in the fettuccine.

And stir together to mix well.

Transfer to a baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese on top.

And bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Check out more of my crawfish recipes on Pinterest!

If you make this or any of my recipes, I'd love to see your results! Just snap a photo and hashtag it #DeepSouthDish on social media or tag me @deepsouthdish on Instagram!

Bring a pot of well salted water to a rolling boil and cook the fettuccine to al dente according to the package directions. Drain, rinse well, and set aside to fully drain. Butter or spray a 2 quart casserole dish or oblong pan with non-stick spray; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until softened. Stir in the flour and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add the parsley, Cajun seasoning and crawfish tails and cook on a low simmer for about 30 minutes. Add in the half and half and cubed Velveeta, and continue cooking over low until the cheese is melted. Add the cooked and drained fettuccine and stir well to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with a light covering of Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

I have been making a very similar recipe that has been in the family for years. Instead of using Velveeta cheese, try using white american cheese. You taste more of the crawfish and roux than the cheese. I sometimes serve it over rice as well as thick slices of toast. Amazing.

Of course! I can't even believe those imports make it to people's plates in this country. Maybe I'm spoiled by being raised on fresh seafood right out of our Gulf, but if that's the only seafood that most folks have eaten all their lives, they don't really know what real fresh seafood tastes like. No telling what's in it either because I've heard it's not regulated like our own food here. If people would stop buying it, it would go away, American fishermen and women would get their once prosperous livelihoods back, the price of it would come down and people would know what REAL good seafood is again!! I am convinced that most people who say they don't like seafood, have only eaten that inferior imported junk.

Mary, I was fortunate enough a few weeks ago (on the way back from crabbing along the LA coast) to purchase some shrimp... I used it to make my first ever shrimp fettuccine from you recipe here and I can say it is the best I have ever had... I can't wait to try out your other recipes!!!

Ok, so I just made this and it was by far tw best velveta fettuchine I have ever had. I added one can of original rotel and tripled the Cajun seasoning. I use a local one from a meat store in Louisiana. It was amazing. Feel the guilt but gosh is it worth it.

Thanks so much Hannah! I use more Cajun seasoning than the recipes state too - sometimes I go a little overboard with it LOL!! I do try to keep it a bit on the milder side for the site recipes though. Thanks for taking the time to come back by & let me know you enjoyed the recipe - that means a lot to me!!

Ok so call it an obsession lol! But I made crawfish fettuchine Saturday and had a family gathering tonight so tried it with shrimp. Need I say there isn't one bite left! It was great, crawfish is so expensive right now so tried the shrimp and it was great. Did the same ad before and will constantly stick with this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing. =]

i just made this recipe for my family and i must say it was Delicious! i use to make it with the can sauce this way was so easy and tasted amazing! i made a cookie cake for desert but dont think i have any room to eat any lol! thank you soo much for sharing!

At what point would you add the shrimp? Same time as the crawfish? Also, does the shrimp get to "tough" or does it cook well? I have overlooked it before and it was rubber! I'm not sure if we have good crawfish in Michigan :(

Hi Katie! Yes just add it in as above. Since it's in sauce it doesn't get overcooked - just make sure you use an appropriate size shrimp for a casserole, more toward the medium to larger size and not the tiny salad shrimp! Frozen crawfish might be available up there in your seafood freezer section, but they are fairly expensive & make sure if you find them, that they are not from a foreign source! Those things are awful tasting in my little ole opinion. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Did it not look like the picture LaKisha? If it did and you just want it more saucy than that, you'll need to increase the roux - use more butter and add more half and half to make more sauce, but that's easy to do! Just add the half and half until you increase the sauce & get it to the consistency you like.

AAAMMMAZZZING!!! This is now a staple in my dinner rotation. Being fortunate enough to live in the south I buy my trinity already done...Guidry's Creole Mix. You can get it in the fridge section of the produce.

New Orleanian here also! I don't put mine in the oven either, too me that's what dries it out. However if I do, I'll omit the flour, add a beat egg, bread crumb the top and bake for about 20-30 minutes. MMMMmmm

Well.... the picture is the recipe baked so if prepared according to the recipe, yours should certainly look the same! If it didn't, my guess is that your oven cooks a bit hotter than you may realize, and if it was too thick, it may have gotten a little overcooked and dry. Also if you cook with a convection oven you need to adjust times on any recipes you bake, because they do cook faster than conventional baking.

Why bake it? For the same reasons you bake things like macaroni and cheese and other casseroles that contain cooked noodles! While you can serve those very often right out of the skillet, like any pasta casserole that is baked, the noodles puff up and expand and take on more of the flavors in the casserole. It's a very short bake though - only 20 mins at a moderate heat of 350 - enough to do that and warm everything through good. Hope that helps!

I didn't have any crawfish, so I used boneless chicken breasts and added more half and half and more cajun seasoning and it come out awesome. I browned my chicken breasts first thing and then cubed them.

Hi Britni! I am not a big fan of making ahead pasta dishes because the noodles tend to absorb too much of the sauce and then when you bake it, it turns out too dry. What I recommend is to prepare the components ahead - boil the noodles, rinse & drain, then put into a tightly covered storage container & refrigerate. Do the same with the sauce. You will need to rewarm the sauce before baking and frankly I'd wait to add the crawfish during that process myself. Once the sauce is warmed through, toss with the noodles and transfer to your baking dish.

Mary, there is a little plastic a very in Texarkana, AR,that makes a dish similar to this, but serves it over smoked gouda grits! I used your recipe to try to duplicate their dish and it was amazing! Thanks so much!

I made this recipe and instead of Parmesan cheese I placed squares of peeper jack cheese and it turned out phenomenal. Especially if your looking to give it that extra punch of spicy flavor but note I used regular velveeta instead of Mexican style I was afraid that might be to much spiciness for one meal. lol

Thanks for the recipe I made this dish and my family loved it. My mom even said it was better then hers. Yaaaayyy!!! I did make some minor changes like instead of mexi velveeta I used regular but only bc instead of baking it with Parmesan cheese, I opted to use sargento pepperjack squares and it was amazing. So if anyone wants to give your casserole a little cheese kick I would highly recommend using pepperjack when u back it in the oven.

Deep South Dish, When my MIL would make this, I always thought the Velveeta gave this a tangy taste. You must try using 5 slices of 2% American and 3 Pepper Jack slices per 1 lb crawfish. I will never use the block Velveeta cheese again.

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